Ink-well.



F. E. MASON.

INK WELL.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 24- 1914.

1,199,017. PatentedSept. 19,1916.

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FRED E. MASON, OF ROCHESTER, NEVT YORK.

INK-WELL.

Application filed September 2 1, 1914.

1' '0 all 7141071? it may concern.

is it known that I, FRED E. MASON, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ink-Neils, of which the following is a specification,

One object of the present invention is to produce an ink-well of such form and construction as to avoid both the danger of raising too much ink from the well on the nib if a pen, and also to avoid soiling the penholder, and the fingers of the user, with the ink.

Another object of the invention is to produce an inkroll of which the ink-receiving part or receptacle may be made of an inexpensive form and material, so that when the supply of ink contained in it has been exhausted the receptacle may be thrown away and replaced by a new ink-receptacle, thus avoiding thickening of the ink by evaporation and the collection of dust, while also eliminating the necessity of cleaning the receptacle.

The invention is particularly designed to produce an ink-well suitable for use with the indelible ink employed in marking linen, since, owing to the character of the ink and of the material to which it is applied, it is particularly important to avoid any accidental dropping of ink from the pen, or any application of ink to the fingers of the user; and for the further reason that such indelible ink, after having dried upon or within a well or receptacle, is not easily removed by washing.

To the foregoing ends, the ink-well of the present invention comprises, or is provided with, an ink-receptacle of such form and dimensions that it is impossible for any part of the pen, except the nib, to be immersed in the ink, or brought into contact with any inl bearing surface. This is accomplished by employing an ink-receptacle in which the ink is contained in a concave saucer-like depression, of which both the depth and the width are small. in proportion to the nib of the pen. Accordingly, the pen, when held at any angle and immersed to the greatest possible degree, as limited by the engagement of the pen-point with the bottom of the receptacle, cannot be immersed beyond the nib or part to which the ink should be applied, thus insuring that no more than the requisite amount of ink can be raised Specification of Letters Patent.

latented Sept. 19, 1.9165,,

Serial No. $63,357.

from the ink-well by the pen. Owing, fur ther, to the saucer-like shape and small dimensions of the ink-receptacle, the pen holder cannot, in ordinary use, be brought accidentally into contact with any part of the ink well, so that there is no possibility of transferring ink from the well to the pen-holder and thence to the fingers of the user.

To carry out the second object of the in vention, above mentioned, the ink-receptacle is made of thin sheet-material which may be manufactured inexpensively in the required form, by punching and stamping operations, while, in order to sustain this thin sheet-material against the pressure of the pen-point, I employ a support or base for the ink-receptacle, so shaped as to conform closely to the lower surface of the sheetmaterial, and thus sustain it at all points. In this manner it is rendered possible to use even such flexible and impermanent material as waxed cardboard in the ink-receptacle, without danger of its being perforated by the pen-point, and an ink-receptacle formed of such inexpensive material may be thrown away and a fresh one substituted at each refilling of the ink-well, thus entirely avoiding the necessity of cleansing the ink-well.

In the drawings :Figure l is a side-els vation, partly in vertical section, and Fig. 2 is a plan-view, of an ink-well embodying the present invention.

As shown in the drawings, the ink-receptacle is formed of a disk of any suitable thin sheet-material such, for example, as paper waxed or otherwise water-proofed, this disk being stamped to produce a central saucerlike recess 3 surrounded by a fiat flange 2. For convenience in handling the ink-receptacle an upwardly-projecting lug 4 is formed at the edge to serve as a handle.

The ink-receptacle just described is supported by a base 5, which may be of any convenient material, and of wh1ch the form is immaterial except that at the top it is provided with a concavity adaptedto receive and conform closely to the depressed portion 2 of the ink-receptacle, and with an annular rim 6 upon which the flange 2 of the receptacle rests, as shown in Fig. 1.

The inlcreceptacle should be made of approximately the size shown in the drawings, or of dimensions departing only slightly therefrom, and in Fig. 1 I have shown, in

dotted lines, a pen of ordinary size in the position in which it would ordinarly be immersed in ink contained in the ink-We1L It will be apparent from Fig. 1 that it is impossible, owing to the shape and dimensions of the receptacle, to immerse the en in the ink to any greater degree than is neces sary to supply the nib of the pen With a suitable amount of ink. It will also be apparent that there is no part of the ink-Well from which ink can be transferred to the pen-holder in the act immersing the pen in the ink.

The ink-receptacle may, if desired, be made of thin sheet-metal, and in this case it may be \VHSllQCl and refilled from time to time. It is preferable, however, particularly where the ink-Well is in constant use, to use a sheet-material of such an inexpensive character that, after the supply of ink has been exhausted from the receptacle, the receptacle may be removed and thrown away, and a fresh one substituted and filled with ink, thus avoiding the necessity of cleansing the receptacle, and also insuring at all times supply of ink that has not been thickened by evaporation or by the collection of dust.

I claim An ink Well comprising a base having a pocket and a flat surface surrounding the pocket, and a throw away lining formed from thin sheet material and having a concare-convex central portion and a surrounding plane flange, the concave-convex portion being of small dimensions in comparison with the nib of a pen and fitting in the pocket of the base, and the flange being relatively Wide and resting on the fiat surface about the pocket to protect the base against an overflow of ink, a lug being pro vided at one edge of the flange by which the lining may be removed.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my sign aturc in presence of two Witnesses.

FRED E. MASON.

Witnesses D. G-URNEE, L. THON.

609105 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Yatents, Washington, D. C. 

